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Kallas: les lobbyistes européens devraient investir dans la transparence des affaires publiques

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Publié 05 septembre 2007
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lobbying Transparency initiative
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Confronté à un boycott des cabinets d'affaires publiques à Bruxelles causé par l'obligation de révéler leurs comptes dans un nouveau registre public, Siim Kallas, commissaire à la lutte antifraude, a insisté sur le fait que la révélation de leur état financier était une partie non négociable de sa proposition sur la transparence, prévue l'année prochaine.

Designing practical rules for financial disclosure of lobbying activities in Brussels is the final and perhaps highest hurdle in the way of Commissioner Kallas's initiative to make the EU more open and transparent to the general public.

Last month, Brussels's largest public-affairs companies - represented by umbrella group EPACA - refused to participate in a proposed voluntary register because it would have forced them to disclose the names of their clients and the amount of fees they receive (EurActiv 23/08/07).

But Kallas said he will not bow to pressure and was seeking practical solutions to the problem. "Without financial disclosure, this whole exercise loses credibility," the Commissioner told a group of Brussels-based journalists last week (30 August). "There must be financial disclosure. We will fight to have an acceptable solution to this question."

He added he was "positive" about the outcome and timing of his proposals, the details of which are due out in spring next year. "We will have, at the beginning of spring 2008, a register. And we will have a substantial amount of participants who will join the register."

Once again, he made it clear that, if the voluntary registration system failed to attract sufficient numbers, he would table some hard regulatory proposals to replace them. "The time-limit is the time of this Commission," which has a mandate until October 2009, Kallas said. "End of 2008, we can obviously evaluate how the system works," he said - adding that he would then be "ready to consider the next steps".

Réactions : 

Kallas said that his services were "in intensive discussions" to work out the details of the proposal. "We are not looking for accounting documents and auditing of accounting documents, of course this is voluntary," he said.

Kallas also tried to dispel fears voiced by EPACA that consultancies could be treated unfairly compared with law firms, saying that lawyers could be exempted from the register due to confidentiality agreements and other legally binding arrangements passed with clients.

"EPACA and law firms are subject to the same rules, so there is no difference," he said. 

"A Brussels lawyer's work is complex," said Andrew Holroyd, president of the Law Society of England and Wales and Hartmut Kilger, president of the German Bar Association (Deutscher Anwaltverein). "Not every act with an EU official should fall into the Commission's wide definition of lobbying, particularly if it concerns a matter that should be subject to court action".

"Having to disclose information related to a prospective merger, for instance, could have serious implications for a company’s market value," the associations said in a joint statement.

Answering those concerns, Kristian Schmidt, the deputy head of cabinet for Kallas, said that a distinction will be made between a lawyer's lobbying and legal-representation activities, which are covered by confidentiality. "If a law firm is representing a client in a cartel case or a client before the Court of Justice, obviously that work is not covered by the register, and we will say so very clearly."

But he added that lawyers would have to declare the other side of their activities that are not purely legal representation. "For that kind of work, they will have to declare." He said that law firms and their associations were now discussing internally how they could separate the two lines of business within their rules.

Prochaines étapes : 
  • Oct. 2007: Commission to present study by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) on the "professional ethics of holders of public office", including the executive power, central banks and courts of justice. The study, Kallas said, will give an overview of problems that can arise across 20 EU member states covering four main areas: Conflicts of interest, revolving doors, gifts and spouses.
  • Oct. 2007: Commission to present study and proposed measures to a Parliament hearing on lobbying issues.
  • Spring 2008: Commission to present proposal for lobbyists' register.
Liens externes
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Contexte : 

In a speech held at Nottingham University on 3 March 2005, Administrative Affairs and Anti-Fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas launched the idea of a transparency initiative concentrating on three key areas:

  • Increasing the financial accountability of EU funding;
  • strengthening personal integrity and independence of EU institutions, and; 
  • imposing stricter controls on lobbying.

Since then, the debate has tended to focus on the transparency of lobbying and the issue of whether to regulate the activities of the estimated 15,000 professionals seeking to influence decision-making in Brussels: public affairs consultants, lawyers, and activists of all kinds.

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